The Christmas Day run

I know lots of people will be able to answer that question quite easily - with a resounding no. But there are others of us out there who think, well, yes, maybe….

I’ve been for a festive run for the last two years, and I’m definitely planning on doing it again. On the day when you’ll eat an estimated 7,000 calories, it doesn’t harm to start with a light jog. Losing weight and getting fit is a perennial New Year resolution - if you ease yourself in over the Christmas week it doesn’t shock the system so much when you get back to the gym in January. Of course those who have been doing Advent Running - running for 30 minutes each day from December 1, are way ahead of the pack...

But there’s more to it than that - Christmas is often quite stressful (a recent poll found that 44 per cent of Brits say Christmas is the most stressful time of the year). So it’s nice to get out of the house, before anyone else is up, and get your head in order.

I’m not the only one. Laura Fountain, the blogger behind Lazy Girl Running, agrees that a Christmas Day run is among the best present you’ll get.

“I love it,” she says. “My favourite run of the year is probably Christmas Day. The streets are pretty much empty and everyone you do see gives you a friendly 'Merry Christmas'. I run in a Santa Hat in the morning. One year it had snowed and the paths were icy, but the local golf course was closed for Christmas so I had a great time running along the fairway and across the green making tracks in the virgin snow.”

If you don’t want solitude - and can’t persuade anyone else to go with you - there are a few organised runs happening around the country. The biggest is ParkRun. Fountain says she’s going to ParkRun with her sister this Christmas morning.

“She wasn't a runner this time last year and has slowly made her way from 0 to half marathon. The ParkRun is going to be a bit of a celebration of that. She's got two small children but we're planning to sneak off while they're distracted with their new toys. Kids get the rest of Christmas Day - the run will be time for her.”

And when I asked you on Twitter, there are loads of us out there doing it too - so see you out there, on the 25th, with your Santa hat on, and a glass of bubbly waiting for you at home.

@JesSalter@TeleFashion to give me something to do while I wake for the rest of my family to wake up. 6am internal alarm regardless of day!